Picking a favorite Masters tradition can feel a little bit like having to pick a favorite child.
Pimento cheese sammies? Par-3 Contest? Ball-skipping at 16? Grand rituals all! For the fourth estate, though, there’s a clear winner in the Masters Traditions Bracket Challenge: the media lottery during Masters week that affords a few lucky ink-stained wretches, photogs and creators of all ilk the chance to play Augusta National on the Monday after the Masters. Breakfast in the clubhouse. Real estate in the Champions Locker Room. Range session. Sunday pins. A triple at 12. Stories for a lifetime.
So, rest assured when an email from the Augusta National Communications office hit inboxes at approximately 1:15 p.m. ET Thursday — with “Press Lottery” in the subject line — the communiqué enjoyed a high open rate.
Then came the curve ball.
“This April,” the note began, “in addition to our traditional media lottery to play Augusta National Golf Club on the Monday after the Masters, we are pleased to offer another lottery for an opportunity to play Augusta Municipal Golf Course.”
A lottery to play a muni might sound oxymoronic — but AMGC is no run-of-the-mill muni. If you’re a regular on this site, you’ll know that Augusta National has pumped millions into the beloved city property, known affectionately as the Patch. Designers Tom Fazio and Beau Welling oversaw a rerouting and sprucing-up of the course, and Tiger Woods contributed a nine-hole par-3 course. Among the other additions are a Trackman-equipped range, a putting course (coming soon!) and even a clever new logo that depicts a head of cabbage on a tee. “We are leaning into the nickname the Patch,” said Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley.
There’s also a new (and newly positioned) clubhouse.
According to the Patch’s slick new website: “The most significant decision came early in the project when the clubhouse was shifted from its old location at the south end of Daniel Field’s 5/23 runway to the highest point of the property. . . . From this new vantage point, the first tee of the golf course and clubhouse offer tremendous views of the property’s 150-foot elevation change, providing stunning views of the course.”
Sounds kinda like another course in town, right?
That’s not to suggest anyone will mistake the new-look Patch for Augusta National, but, gosh, do they share some similarities, from wide playing corridors to pine-needle beds lining the holes to blindingly white bunker sand. Browse the course’s homepage and you’ll find another nod to ANGC: a Masters logo under “Project Partners.”
The course is set open to the public on April 15 but two days before that the press will descend for a sneak preview.
Fret not, fellow scribblers! According to the Thursday dispatch, “entering/winning the Patch lottery does not make you ineligible to enter/win the Augusta National lottery.”
Bon chance!